Use of organic porous material in aerosol generating device and atomizer using organic porous material

ABSTRACT

An application of an organic porous material in an aerosol generating device, and an atomizer using the material. The organic porous material is, at least in part, a melamine resin porous material. The melamine resin porous material has a decomposition temperature exceeding 400° C., can be used for a long time at a high temperature of 180-240° C. without any change in properties, and thus can cover the operating temperature range of the atomizer. In addition, the material has a high porosity and controllable pore size distribution, can achieve both good liquid guiding and locking performance, and thus is an ideal liquid guiding material for an atomizer. The organic porous material is applied to an atomizer, and has the advantages of quick liquid absorption, high liquid storage capacity, smooth liquid guide, and outstanding liquid locking capability due to a nano-capillary microstructure formed after liquid infiltration.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application entitled“Use of organic porous material in aerosol generating device andatomizer using organic porous material” with application number of201910593233.X, submitted to China National Intellectual PropertyAdministration on Jul. 3, 2019, the entire contents of which areincorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to the field of aerosol generatingdevices, and in particular to a use of an organic porous material in anaerosol generating device and an atomizer using the organic porousmaterial.

BACKGROUND

A device that changes an atomized liquid containing nicotine and thelike into an aerosol by means of the heating and atomizing of anatomizing core is an electronic cigarette simulating a cigarette; thegenerated aerosol has similar smoke, flavor and feeling to thetraditional cigarette. The aerosol containing nicotine generated byatomization does not contain harmful carcinogens such as tar thatcommonly exist in the smoke of traditional cigarettes and is consideredas a cigarette substitute beneficial to the health of traditionalsmokers. Meanwhile, the electronic cigarette has advantages of goodportability, generation of no open flame, generation of no second-handsmoke and environment friendliness, and is preferred by many smokers.

At present, two types of heating and atomizing technologies are widelyemployed in the aerosol generation device. 1) Cotton or fiber bundle isused as a liquid guide body, and a heating wire is wound on the cottonor fiber bundle to directly heat and atomize the e-liquid. 2) Honeycombceramic is used as a liquid guide body, and a heating wire or electricheating tape and the like is employed to heat so that the e-liquid isatomized.

The cotton or fiber bundle, as a liquid guide body, has features ofsimple structure, good effect and so on, and is highly appreciated byusers when used in open-ended big-aerosol atomizing cores. The cotton isfluffy and has a high liquid absorption; however, the heat resistance islow, the ignition point is 150° C. only, and the compression modulus islow, which easily leads to large permanent deformation. When the cottonis used in a closed small cigarette, it is difficult to solve theproblems of liquid leaking and burning. Fiber bundles made of glass orspecial polymers and other materials or glass wools have good heatresistance; however, the density is low, the liquid absorption atsaturation is low and the liquid locking capability is unsatisfactory.

The porous ceramic formed by sintering ingredients such as aggregate,adhesive and pore-forming additive has a large number of pore canalsthat communicate with one another and communicate with the surface, andhas excellent performances such as stable chemical properties, low heatconductivity, high temperature resistance and corrosion resistance,which to some extent compensate for the performance defects of theliquid guide bodies made of cotton and fiber bundle. However, the porousceramic type liquid guide bodies employed in the industry generally haveproblems of low porosity and large diameters of micropores; although theliquid absorption and guide performances can basically meet the designrequirements, the liquid locking capability needs improving, that is, itis easy to leak liquid.

SUMMARY

In order to solve the problems in the prior art that the atomizing coreis liquid leaking and the cotton liquid guide material is burned, thepresent disclosure provides the following solution creatively.

First, the embodiment of the present disclosure provides an applicationof an organic porous material in an aerosol generating device, whereinthe organic porous material is, at least in part, a melamine resinporous material.

Further, the organic porous material has an apparent density of(3˜120)×10⁻³ g/cm³, preferably (4˜12)×10⁻³ g/cm³.

Further, the organic porous material has a 25% deformation compressionstrength of 5˜30 KPa.

Further, the organic porous material has a decomposition temperatureexceeding 300° C., preferably a decomposition temperature exceeding 350°C., more preferably a decomposition temperature exceeding 400° C.

Further, the organic porous material has a porosity higher than 60%,preferably higher than 80%, more preferably higher than 95%.

Further, the organic porous material has a pore size distribution thatover 90% volume is occupied by the pores with the pore size rangingbetween 10 nano˜100 micron, more preferably between 10 nano˜100 nano,and most preferably between 10 nano˜50 nano.

Further, the aerosol generating device includes a heating element, andthe organic porous material is used as a liquid guide body and is incontact with or adjacent to the heating element.

Further, the aerosol generating device includes a heating element, theorganic porous material is used as a liquid guide body, and anotherporous material is contained between the organic porous material and theheating element.

Second, the embodiment of the present disclosure provides an atomizer ofan aerosol generating device, including:

a shell, inside which a liquid storage chamber configured for storing anatomized liquid is formed, wherein the liquid storage chamber includesan outlet, an aerosol channel extending along the longitudinal directionof the shell is formed inside the shell, the aerosol channel includes aninlet and an air outlet, and the air outlet is located on one end of theshell;

an atomizing core, which is accommodated in the shell, wherein theoutlet of the liquid storage chamber is communicated with a liquidabsorption surface of the atomizing core, an atomizing surface of theatomizing core is communicated with the aerosol channel, and theatomizing core is, at least in part, made of a melamine resin porousmaterial;

a fixing element, which is configured for fixing the atomizing core andthe shell;

a heating body, which is in contact with or adjacent to the atomizingsurface; and

an electrode, which is configured for connecting to the heating body andenabling the heating body to receive an electric power.

Further, the atomizing core includes porous ceramic and a melamine resinporous material; one surface of the porous ceramic forms the atomizingsurface, and one surface of the melamine resin porous material forms theliquid absorption surface; and the melamine resin porous materialcovers, at least in part, the porous ceramic, such that the atomizingliquid enters the atomizing core through the liquid absorption surfaceand is transmitted to the atomizing surface.

The organic porous material is, at least in part, a melamine resinporous material. The melamine resin porous material is, for example, amelamine sponge. The embodiment of the present disclosure preferably mayuse the melamine resin porous material as a liquid guide material of theaerosol generating device as a whole, or combine the melamine resinporous material with other porous materials to form a liquid guide body,for example, combining the melamine resin porous material with nonwovencloth, cotton and other materials having capillarity to form a liquidguide material, wherein the combining may be bonding, or stacking and soon.

The melamine sponge is a material having a three-dimensional porousstructure, which has a porosity over 99%, an open-porosity over 95%, andmeanwhile has good flame retardance, that is, it will not burn aftercontacting the open flame and it can self-extinguish when leaving thefire. The melamine resin decomposes slowly at a temperature higher than420° C. and the thermal decomposition products are not harmful to humanbodies. The melamine sponge possesses excellent chemical stability,safety and environmental friendliness due to the stable chemical andcrosslinking structure.

Compared with the cotton commonly used in the field, the organic porousmaterial provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure hasadvantages of high liquid absorption at saturation, good shape aftersaturation absorption of liquid and high-temperature resistance, whichis conducive to transmitting the e-liquid to the heating body.

Compared with the ceramic porous material commonly used at present, theorganic porous material provided in the embodiment of the presentdisclosure has a high porosity and can smoothly transmit the e-liquid.The discovered material has good e-liquid affinity, which endows theorganic porous material provided in the embodiment of the presentdisclosure with a good e-liquid locking capability.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

One or more embodiments are illustrated through the image(s) incorresponding drawing(s). These illustrations do not form restrictionsto the embodiments. Elements in the drawings with a same referencenumber are expressed as similar elements, and the images in the drawingsdo not form restrictions unless otherwise stated.

FIG. 1(a) is a microstructure SEM photo of a melamine resin porousmaterial according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1(b) is a diagram of a pore size distribution of a melamine resinporous material according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of an aerosol generating device employing anorganic porous material according to one embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of an aerosol generating device employing anorganic porous material according to one embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 4 is an actual photo of an atomizing core according to oneembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a structure diagram of an open-ended big-aerosol atomizingcore employing an organic porous material according to one embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is contrast photos of liquid locking capability between anatomizing core (a) made of absorbent cotton and an atomizing core (b)made of a melamine resin porous material according to one embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is contrast photos of liquid storage and burning resistancebetween an atomizing core (a) made of absorbent cotton and an atomizingcore (b) made of a melamine resin porous material according to oneembodiment of the present disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF DESIGNATORS IN DRAWINGS

1 represents a heating body, 2 represents an organic material porousbody, 3 represents a sealing element, 4 represents an e-liquid, 5represents an air inlet, 6 represents an aerosol outlet, 7 represents aflowing direction of an e-liquid, 8 represents an aerosol escape pipe, 9represents an atomizer shell, 10 represents a positive electrode of apower supply, 11 represents a negative electrode of a power supply, 12represents a sealing cover, and 13 represents a ceramic porous bodyinbuilt with a heating wire.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure is described below in further detail inconjunction with embodiments and accompanying drawings. The embodimentsare merely to make the technical features, purposes and effects of thepresent disclosure better understood, rather than limiting the presentdisclosure.

Referring to FIG. 1, FIG. 1(a) is a microstructure SEM photo of amelamine resin porous material according to one embodiment of thepresent disclosure; and FIG. 1(b) is a diagram of a pore sizedistribution of a melamine resin porous material according to oneembodiment of the present disclosure.

The melamine resin porous material is a flexible nano ultrafine fiberfoam plastic, with narrow pore size; in addition, the melamine resinsponge has a high temperature resistance, which is suitable for workinga long time in working conditions of 200˜240° C., without volatilizationand deformation under 400° C. The liquid guiding and locking capabilityof the melamine resin sponge for an e-liquid has no obvious relationshipwith the pore size of the melamine resin sponge, and good liquid guidingand locking effects can be achieved when the average pore size lowers to20 nano to 100 micron.

Referring to FIG. 2, which is a sectional structure view of anembodiment of an aerosol generating device employing an organic porousmaterial.

A spiral heating body 1 formed by coiling a heating wire or heating tapeis wound on a cylindrical surface of the organic material porous body 2.

The organic material porous body 2 has an appearance presenting adumbbell structure, which is thin in the middle and thick at two ends.

An aerosol escape pipe 8 has an appearance presenting a circular tube,of which a bottom defines horizontal circular symmetrical through holes,the organic material porous body 2 wound by the heating body 1 isinstalled in the circular symmetrical holes horizontally, and thedumbbell structure thick at two ends, after absorbing the e-liquid 4 inthe liquid storage chamber, can also function as sealing to prevent thee-liquid leaking.

An atomizer shell 9 of the aerosol generating device has an open-endedstructure at the bottom, such that an e-liquid can be filled; after theaerosol escape pipe 8, the heating body 1, the porous body 2 and thee-liquid 4 are assembled, a sealing element made of silicone rubber isemployed to seal the bottom of the shell 9 of the aerosol generatingdevice.

The e-liquid 4 enters the liquid storage part inside the porous bodythrough the liquid absorption surface of the porous body 2, to reach theatomizing surface. The flow direction of the e-liquid is indicated by 7.

When an action of suction occurs, a controller is triggered to supplypower through electrodes 10 and 11, and the heating body transfers theheat to the e-liquid on the atomizing surface of the porous body.

The e-liquid on the atomizing surface receives the heat transferred bythe heating body 1 and is converted into a gas, which then interactswith the air entering from the air inlet 5 to generate an aerosol thatescapes from the aerosol outlet 6.

The present embodiment is an aerosol generating device of simplestructure, which makes full advantages of the micro three-dimensionalnanonet structure of an organic porous material, achieves fast liquidabsorption, effectively improves the liquid storage capacity, andenhances the smooth transmission capability of the e-liquid inside theporous body. A nano-capillary microstructure is formed after liquidinfiltration, which has an outstanding liquid locking capability, andcan effectively solve the problem of easy leaking of liquid. The aerosolgenerated by the atomizing surface of the porous body escapesimmediately through the escape pipe along the suction direction, withoutretention or problems of flavor degradation caused by repeated heating,which also greatly reduces the probability of occurrence of pyrolysisbyproducts.

Referring to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, which are a sectional structure view ofanother embodiment of an aerosol generation device employing the organicporous material and an actual photo of an atomizer core.

The organic material porous body 2 is covered on a surface of a ceramicporous body 13 inside which a heating wire 1 is sintered, to compensatefor the insufficient liquid locking capability of the porous ceramic.

At present, porous ceramic type liquid guide bodies are employed in theindustry. The ceramic porous bodies have excellent performances such asstable chemical properties, low thermal conductivity, high-temperatureresistance and corrosion resistance, which to some extent compensate forthe performance defects of liquid guide bodies made of cotton and fiberbundles.

However, due to the brittleness and fragility of the ceramic material,the ceramic porous bodies generally have problems such as low porosityand large diameters of micropores; the porosity ranges between 40%˜80%,the pore size ranges between 10 μm˜300 μm, the liquid absorbing andguiding performance basically can meet the design requirements, however,the liquid locking capability needs improving, that is, it is easy toleak liquid.

FIG. 4 is an actual photo of an embodiment of an organic porous materialwrapped on a surface of a porous ceramic heating body in which a heatingwire is sintered. From the figure it is obvious that the liquid lockingcapability of the organic porous material is better than the porousceramic, there is droplet leaked onto the lead of the heating wire inthe ceramic part, while the surface of the organic porous material partis wet but without liquid leaked.

Referring to FIG. 5, which is a structure diagram of an embodiment of anopen-ended liquid-dripping big-aerosol atomizing core employing anorganic porous material.

In the present embodiment, the organic porous material is directly usedas a liquid storage carrier and a liquid guide body, and is applied toan open-ended liquid-dripping big-aerosol atomizing core, to directlyreplace the cotton type liquid storage carriers and liquid guide bodiesthat are employed in the industry.

The cotton has an ignition point of 150° C. only, which is easy to beburned by the heating wire.

The melamine resin porous material taking a heat resistant polymer as abase material has a decomposition temperature exceeding 400° C. It canbe used for a long time at 200˜240° C., which just covers the operatingtemperature range of the electronic cigarette atomizer. The melamineresin decomposes slowly at a temperature higher than 420° C. and thethermal decomposition products are not harmful to human bodies.

Compared with cotton, the organic porous material provided by thepresent disclosure has advantages of high liquid absorption atsaturation, good shape after saturation absorption of liquid andhigh-temperature resistance, which is conducive to transmitting thee-liquid to the heating body.

Referring to FIG. 6, besides comparing the liquid locking performancesof the ceramic porous material and the melamine resin porous material(referring to FIG. 4), the present disclosure also compares the liquidlocking performances of the absorbent cotton and the melamine resinporous material, FIG. 6 is a contrast of appearances of an atomizingcore (a) made of absorbent cotton and an atomizing core (b) made of amelamine resin porous material after saturation absorption of e-liquid.After kept still for 10 minutes, the e-liquid absorbed into theatomizing core (a) made of absorbent cotton mostly overflows, while theatomizing core (b) made of a melamine resin porous material still keepsthe original appearance of saturation absorption, with little e-liquidoverflown.

Referring to FIG. 7, the present disclosure further studies the contrastof liquid storage and burning resistance between an atomizing core (a)made of absorbent cotton and an atomizing core (b) made of a melamineresin porous material; FIG. 7 is a contrast of liquid storage andburning resistance between an atomizing core (a) made of absorbentcotton and an atomizing core (b) made of a melamine resin porousmaterial, which shows the appearances of the atomizing core (a) made ofabsorbent cotton and the atomizing core (b) made of a melamine resinporous material when heated for 8 seconds after saturation absorption ofe-liquid, wherein the heating condition is a heating wire of 1.2 ohm anda voltage of 3.7 volt. Remove the heating body after 8 seconds ofheating, it can be seen part of the surface of the absorbent cotton isburned, while the melamine resin porous body has a complete appearance.Moreover, in the condition of equivalent volume, the amount of e-liquidabsorbed by the absorbent cotton is obviously lower than the melamineresin porous material. Thus, the melamine resin porous material isconducive to smoothly supplying liquid and preventing dry burning.

It should be noted that although the description and accompanyingdrawings of the present disclosure illustrate some preferred embodimentsof the present disclosure, the present disclosure may be implementedthrough many different forms, but not restricted to the embodimentsdescribed in the description. These embodiments shall not be construedas additional limitations on the contents of the present disclosure.These embodiments are described for the purpose of providing a morethorough and comprehensive understanding of the disclosed content of thepresent disclosure. Moreover, various embodiments not listed aboveformed by the above technical features combining with each other are allintended to be included in the scope of the present disclosure;furthermore, for the ordinary skill in the art, improvements ortransformations may be made according to the above description, andthese improvements and transformations shall belong to the protectionscope of the claims appended below.

1. A use of an organic porous material in an aerosol generating device,wherein the organic porous material is, at least in part, a melamineresin porous material.
 2. The use according to claim 1, wherein theorganic porous material has an apparent density of (3˜120)×10⁻³ g/cm³,preferably (4˜12)×10⁻³ g/cm³.
 3. The use according to claim 1, whereinthe organic porous material has a 25% deformation compression strengthof 5˜30 KPa.
 4. The use according to claim 1, wherein the organic porousmaterial has a decomposition temperature exceeding 300° C., preferably adecomposition temperature exceeding 350° C., more preferably adecomposition temperature exceeding 400° C.
 5. The use according toclaim 1, wherein the organic porous material has a porosity higher than60%, preferably higher than 80%, more preferably higher than 95%.
 6. Theuse according to claim 1, wherein the organic porous material has a poresize distribution that over 90% volume is occupied by the pores with thepore size ranging between 10 nano˜100 micron, preferably between 10nano˜1 micron, more preferably between 10 nano˜100 nano, and mostpreferably between 10 nano˜50 nano.
 7. The use according to claim 1,wherein the aerosol generating device comprises a heating element, andthe organic porous material is used as a liquid guide body and is incontact with or adjacent to the heating element.
 8. The use according toclaim 1, wherein the aerosol generating device comprises a heatingelement, the organic porous material is used as a liquid guide body, andanother porous material is contained between the organic porous materialand the heating element.
 9. An atomizer of an aerosol generating device,comprising: a shell, inside which a liquid storage chamber configuredfor storing an atomized liquid is formed, wherein the liquid storagechamber comprises an outlet, an aerosol channel extending along thelongitudinal direction of the shell is formed inside the shell, theaerosol channel comprises an inlet and an air outlet, and the air outletis located on one end of the shell; an atomizing core, which isaccommodated in the shell, wherein the outlet of the liquid storagechamber is communicated with a liquid absorption surface of theatomizing core, an atomizing surface of the atomizing core iscommunicated with the aerosol channel, and the atomizing core is, atleast in part, made of a melamine resin porous material; a fixingelement, which is configured for fixing the atomizing core and theshell; a heating body, which is in contact with or adjacent to theatomizing surface; and an electrode, which is configured for connectingto the heating body and enabling the heating body to receive an electricpower.
 10. The atomizer according to claim 9, wherein the atomizing corecomprises porous ceramic and a melamine resin porous material; onesurface of the porous ceramic forms the atomizing surface, and onesurface of the melamine resin porous material forms the liquidabsorption surface; and the melamine resin porous material covers, atleast in part, the porous ceramic, such that the atomizing liquid entersthe atomizing core through the liquid absorption surface and istransmitted to the atomizing surface.
 11. The use according to claim 2,wherein the aerosol generating device comprises a heating element, andthe organic porous material is used as a liquid guide body and is incontact with or adjacent to the heating element.
 12. The use accordingto claim 3, wherein the aerosol generating device comprises a heatingelement, and the organic porous material is used as a liquid guide bodyand is in contact with or adjacent to the heating element.
 13. The useaccording to claim 4, wherein the aerosol generating device comprises aheating element, and the organic porous material is used as a liquidguide body and is in contact with or adjacent to the heating element.14. The use according to claim 5, wherein the aerosol generating devicecomprises a heating element, and the organic porous material is used asa liquid guide body and is in contact with or adjacent to the heatingelement.
 15. The use according to claim 6, wherein the aerosolgenerating device comprises a heating element, and the organic porousmaterial is used as a liquid guide body and is in contact with oradjacent to the heating element.
 16. The use according to claim 2,wherein the aerosol generating device comprises a heating element, theorganic porous material is used as a liquid guide body, and anotherporous material is contained between the organic porous material and theheating element.
 17. The use according to claim 3, wherein the aerosolgenerating device comprises a heating element, the organic porousmaterial is used as a liquid guide body, and another porous material iscontained between the organic porous material and the heating element.18. The use according to claim 4, wherein the aerosol generating devicecomprises a heating element, the organic porous material is used as aliquid guide body, and another porous material is contained between theorganic porous material and the heating element.
 19. The use accordingto claim 5, wherein the aerosol generating device comprises a heatingelement, the organic porous material is used as a liquid guide body, andanother porous material is contained between the organic porous materialand the heating element.
 20. The use according to claim 6, wherein theaerosol generating device comprises a heating element, the organicporous material is used as a liquid guide body, and another porousmaterial is contained between the organic porous material and theheating element.